Margaret Atwood

They are hostile nations

i
 
In view of the fading animals
the proliferation of sewers and fears  
the sea clogging, the air
nearing extinction
 
we should be kind, we should
take warning, we should forgive each other
 
Instead we are opposite, we  
touch as though attacking,
 
the gifts we bring
even in good faith maybe  
warp in our hands to
implements, to manoeuvres
 
 
ii
 
Put down the target of me
you guard inside your binoculars,  
in turn I will surrender
 
this aerial photograph  
(your vulnerable
sections marked in red)  
I have found so useful
 
See, we are alone in
the dormant field, the snow
that cannot be eaten or captured
 
 
iii
 
Here there are no armies  
here there is no money
 
It is cold and getting colder,
 
We need each others’
breathing, warmth, surviving  
is the only war
we can afford, stay
 
walking with me, there is almost  
time / if we can only  
make it as far as
 
the (possibly) last summer
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